USARM 50th Anniversary United States Auto Race Marshals USARM Logo


Updated on June 26, 2009 at 12:15 pm

The worker list for the 2009 MotoGP race at Laguna Seca is available. We are no longer accepting applications to work the GP, we have well over 300 workers. Please check the list to verify your name is listed if you've applied to work the event. There is a waiting list already and we are not accepting applications at all now. Feel free to check back next spring if you're interested in working the 2010 event.

There is also a MotoGP schedule available for download.

 
The April 2009 Grid is now available online. The March, April and May Board Meeting minutes are also available.

 
WORKER SAFETY

Why do we talk about safety and being safe so much? Because racing is a dangerous business. It is dangerous for the drivers (riders); it is dangerous for officials and corner workers. It is even dangerous for the fans. How many fans have been injured or even killed over the years in locations they considered completely safe.

From the moment you drive through the front gates into a racing facility, you must consider yourself in danger. With that in mind, it pays to always be aware of your surroundings and what is going on around you. You don't have to be out on the course to get seriously injured. Just walking through the paddock can be a hazardous proposition.

Working actually on or near the racing surface brings with it a whole new set of rules regarding your personal wellbeing. Never take anything for granted. Always be checking your environment. Look over your shoulder; keep your ears tuned to unusual sounds. Watch out for your fellow workers, especially when working around a "live" track. However, don't assume anybody is watching your back but you. Never put yourself in jeopardy for a racer. It may sound tactless, but he paid for the privilege of putting himself in harm's way. Don't you.

The best time to prepare yourself for a safe corner-working experience is before the racing starts. Don't wait until disaster strikes to plan your escape route. Go over in your mind what types of things might be needed to keep you safe during the event.

Good clothing is a must: always wear as much white as possible if you are going to be working on the side of the track (unless your position calls for other colors). It will help you to be seen by racers. Cotton is best-it breathes better, it is usually lighter weight, and it won't support combustion or melt onto your skin near heat as some man-made fabrics will. Wear a hat-it will keep the sun (or rain) from your eyes when you need to see traffic. Wear sturdy shoes-they protect your feet. Carry a whistle-use it for signaling other workers and racers. Make sure it is on a breakaway lanyard if it is around your neck. You don't want it to catch on a vehicle that is moving. Wear gloves, preferably a heat resistant type like Nomex. Leather can shrink onto your hands under severe heat conditions. Always have plenty of liquids handy, water is best. Wear sunscreen.

Now for the part that nobody wants to contemplate: CALAMITY. A vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed is approaching your position without warning and you have nanoseconds to react. What are you going to do? It is difficult to practice this scenario without actually being in the situation. However, you can do some pre planning. If you are going to be working an area you have never been before, prepare yourself. As you approach your new corner for the first time, map out entrance points and exit routes. Play "what if" and go over what could possibly happen if a racer lost control in any part of the turn. If you are going to be in a fixed position for most of the time and not moving around (such as a flagger), plan your escape route or "bailout" path. Know where you will go and what you will do before the time comes. With this in mind, always be mindful of ANYTHING that will obstruct that path. Chairs, coolers, flag stands, people (tell that photographer he cannot stand there unless he wants to get run over when you bail). When the time comes, don't wait until the last moment-leave. Hopefully, you've practiced enough in your mind that your body will react correctly. And, please, take your buddy with you. He will thank you for it. Believe me.

These are some of things to consider in making your racing experience a safer experience. Hopefully, this will also contribute to it being a more enjoyable time as well.

Presented by your USARM training Committee

 

2009 USARM Officers

Ron Vlastelica - President
Ken Berri - Vice President
Jan Weaver-Kaufman - Secretary
Rosebud Vlastelica - Treasurer
Chris Vlastelica - Social

 
At the Board Meeting on November 11, 2008 the USARM Board of Directors voted to reduce the annual dues for membership from $35.00 to $25.00. The membership appliactions have been edited and uploaded here on the website, reflecting that change. Plase make sure that you use the new appliactions when sending in your renewal or new membership dues.

You can download a MS Word document version of the application, or a PDF (Adobe) version or print a text version.

 
New Membership Website

We are proud to announce that we have a new website for our members, https://www.usarm.net/. This website is for USARM members to be able to renew their memberships and update their contact & medical information, etc. You can also pay for your membership via PayPal when you renew. You can also allow (or not) other registered USARM members to be able to view your contact information. You choose whether your email, phone numbers, mailing address is displayed or if all three can be displayed. Only registered and confirmed USARM members will be allowed in to the password protected areas of this website so you don't have to worry about just anyone being able to view your information.

This website uses an SSL certificate which means that any and ALL information passed between your computer and the website is encrypted with 256 bit encryption. This means that someone can't just intercept the communication and get the information you are giving and receiving. In order to be able to use this website to renew your membership or update your membership information, you must first be registered. Those that have already registered on this USARM website can use the same username and password that you have. If you have registered previously but don't remember your username and password, please contact the USARM webmaster.

If you have not yet registered and gotten your username and password, there's a Register button on the menu of the new website. Please fill in as much of the information on the registration form as you can as that information is to verify that you are a member. The registration information is manually verified so please realize that you will not be able to login immediately. You should be contact within 48 hours of registering to let you know that you are verified or asking for more information. You must have a unique email address for each member, if you need an extra email address there are plenty of places to get one such as Google Mail (Gmail), Yahoo Mail, HotMail (Live.com), etc.

Feel free to check out the new members website. If you have any questions or problems with the new website, please contact the USARM webmaster

There has been some confusion about the new website and what information is shown and to whom. AS has been said the only folks that can view any type of membership information is those that have registered with a username and password. Once they submit that and other identifying information and it's manually verified that they are indeed a USARM member, they can then login.

However, that doesn't mean that they can go view every members information. The only information that a "normal", registered member can view after logging in is the information that each individual member has asked to be shown to others. Those that had asked that their information be shown on the previous Member Contact Info page have their information. These are the folks that were originally included in this new listing of information for members. There are 3 types of information that can be shown to the other members : email address, mailing address and phone numbers. To change any of these options is quite simple. Log in and choose the "Edit Your Info" option on the menu located on the left or bottom of the website pages. At the bottom of the Edit Your Info page are three boxes which are either Yes or No asking if you would like that specific information shown. If you don't want any information shown to registered members of USARM then just set all three to No. If want all of your information set to Yes. If you want just some of your information shown then choose Yes or No accordingly. Yes, it's that simple.

With that being said, there are some people that can view ALL of your information, including any details you listed about medications you might take, your allergies to drugs or other things, your blood type and your emergency contact information. This is a VERY small group of people that include the Board of Directors and the event managers that run events for the club. That means that the BoD, Dave Jansen, Ron Cowen & Jim Hileman have access to that information. Why you might ask do they need to be able to view this information? It's quite simple, if you were to get hurt while at the track and needed medical attention then we can inform the paramedics, doctors, etc. that are treating you of any medications you take or allergies to medications, etc. that you might have and that could very possibly help save your life in a dire situation. Of course, we hope that a situation like this never arises but we do work at a racetrack so dangerous situations are quite common. The only other people who see this information is Ted Kuwada, membership chairman and myself, Mickey Housel, as I help Ted with entering and updating the information in the membership database.

So, to be very clear, other normal club members do NOT and can NOT view your medical information and don't know what type of medications you might be taking or information about your emergency contact person and their information, etc. Other normal club members can NOT view your contact information such as your mailing address, phone numbers or email address unless you choose to have them shown.

Hopefully, this clears up any misconceptions that are out there about what information is shown to whom and who has control of seeing your information. If anyone has any questions about this they can either contact the Board of Directors or your USARM Webmaster.

 
There have been some slight changes made to the USARM website, actually the menu. The applications, bylaws, guestbook (old), history, manual, minutes from board meetings and the red candle story can now be found under the new menu option, Documents. The menu has been modified with a few items/categories moving or disappearing.

In the near future there will be photo albums added as well as improvements and new areas for USARM online. The photo album for the 2007 MotoGP has been added. Please feel free to contact the webmaster with any questions, comments or suggestions.

 
If you're interested in joining USARM or would like USARM to help with a track event, feel free to contact us. We can also be reached via snail mail at Post Office Box 127 Gilroy, CA 95021.

 
USARM also has an email list that is used to get information to the members quickly. It's also another avenue for the USARM members to discuss various club issues, past or upcoming events, etc. Please remember that the USARM email list isn't for personal conversations, etc. Please keep those discussions in personal emails. If you have not already signed up for the USARM email list, please sign up here.
 
Please contact the USARM Webmaster with any problems or comments regarding the new design.

 

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